As a doctoral student at Oxford University, I received training in protein biochemistry and enzymology while focusing on the role of vitamin K-dependent carboxylase in blood coagulation. My training at Oxford has enabled me to make significant contributions toward delineating the mechanisms of conserved DNA repair pathways. Notably, when I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester, I identified the biochemical properties of several key factors that function in nucleotide excision repair (NER), some of which play a dual role in RNA polymerase II transcription. Since establishing my own laboratory in 1993, I have maintained a strong commitment to understanding how cells engage homologous recombination (HR) as a tool for eliminating DNA breaks and crosslinks. The efficiency of HR catalyzed by the RAD51 recombinase is regulated by the tumor suppressors BRCA1, BARD1, BRCA2, PALB2, NBS1, and BLM and by components of the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway of DNA damage response/repair in humans, providing compelling evidence for a key role of HR in cancer avoidance. Our studies have already led to many original findings and provided much-needed conceptual and experimental frameworks for the continual dissection of HR and FA mechanisms. To date, I have published 302 articles, with 250 of them being original research papers. According to Scopus, my hindex is 83 with >23,850 citations. I have accrued extensive leadership experience, having served as journal editor or associate editor (Molecular & Cellular Biology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry), NCI Training Grant Co-director, NIH study section chair (Cancer Etiology), Department Chair (Yale University and University of Texas), and as the current Director of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Associate Dean of Research in the School of Medicine, and Director (interim) of our NCI-designated Mays Cancer Center. I have also played a leading role in teaching, advising, and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at Yale University and the University of Texas. I have successfully mentored 25 postdoctoral fellows and 13 PhD students, all of whom have remained in academic science or are gainfully employed in industry. A significant number of my former trainees are now productive faculty at excellent institutions in the United States and abroad and several are already tenured. My research program is highly collaborative. Specifically, I have co-authored more than 45 publications in renowned journals with program project investigators from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Columbia University. I hold regular Zoom and in-person meetings with these colleagues and their trainees for scientific exchange and problem-solving and to strategize over collaborative research directions to enhance the impact of work being pursued in program project laboratories and shared resource cores. My leadership experience, scientific qualifications, and my passion for collaborative pursuits make me an effective Program Project Director and a strong contributor to Project 2 and the Program Project overall.
